Busby (Busbee) – Surname Saturday

Howell-Vincent-Busby Line
By Don Taylor

Busby Surname Origin[i]

Family Search indicates that Busby is a habitational name from Busby in North Yorkshire or possibly a habitational name in Leicestershire. According to Ancestry, it could also be a Scottish habitational name from the lands of Busby in Carmunnock (Renfrewshire).

Busbee is a variant of Busby. Other variants include Busbey, Bushby, Buzbee, & Buzby.


Geographical

According to ForeBears, there are about 31,000 people with the Busby surname. About 21,000 of them live in the United States. The greatest incidents of the Busby surname occur in Texas, California, and Alabama, which account for nearly a third of the Busbys in the US. Mississippi has the greatest frequency of the Busby surname (1 in 2,272). My Busby line came from Virginia and North Carolina.


Direct Busby Ancestors

  • 2nd Great-grandmother:  Elnora Busby – (c.1818 – bef.1900)
  • 3rd Great-grandfather: [Tentative] William Busby (c. 1800-____)[ii]

My Busbys in History

1880 – ForeBears indicates there were no Busby’s in North Carolina and only about 50 in Virginia, where Elnora was born.

Civil War – I have not found evidence that either Elnora or her husband, John Vincent, served during the Civil War. Likewise, it appears that none of her children served either, although I do need to do more research on her children.

1840 – Genealogy Bank suggests there were only 14 families in Virginia and one in North Carolina with the Busby surname.


Locations of my Busby Ancestors

Virginia – Born c. 1824, went to North Carolina before 1849.


Famous Busbys

The most famous people with the Busby surname include:

  • Matt Busby (1909-1994) – Football (Soccer) Player & Manager.
  • James Busby (1802-1871) – Governor General of New Zealand.
  • Steve Busby (1949- ) Baseball Player.

Busby Message Boards

A search for Busby on genealogy.com resulted in over 6,000 posts and over 8,000 messages on Ancestry Message Boards (formerly Rootsweb).[iii]


My Direct Busby Descendants

Some researchers suggest that Elnora’s father is William Busbee (1800-___). I am yet to confirm that. I’m reasonably confident that Elnora had a sister, Eliza, but I know of no people with the Busby surname/  

Assuming Elnora’s father is William Busby, I have 147 known descendants of William in my tree: 45 Howell, 16 Boseman, and 13 Vinson/Vincents. I have previously written about three of them.


Ancestor Photographs

Photo of Clarence Fletcher Howell
Clarence Fletcher Howell
James Dallas Howell


Sources


Endnotes

[i] Common surname origins include:

  • Occupations (such as “Farmer”
  • Physical characteristics (such as “Short”)
  • Places or landmarks (such as “Hill”)
  • Patronymics, derived from father’s name (such as Johnson from ”son of John”).

[ii] I have not had the opportunity to personally research these individuals. As such, their names and dates are tentative and/or speculative.

[iii] Something I should review in the future.

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Photo Friday – Bakeman, Morse (née Milliken), & Potter

Linwood Dyer Collection – Part 005
By Don Taylor

For Photo Friday, I tried to identify the people in four photos from the Linwood Dyer Collection. This collection includes hundreds of photos, documents, and genealogies of people who lived in Scarborough, South Portland, and Cape Elizabeth, Maine. I desire to analyze the images and reunite the photos with family members who may have never seen the picture. The Scarborough Historical Society holds the originals in this collection


Daniel Frederick Bakeman (1759-1869)

Photo of Daniel Frederick Brakeman

The information on the photo says:

DANIEL FREDERICK BAKEMAN,
The Last Revolutionary Soldier, One Hundred and Nine old
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the Year 1868 by A. D. Cross in
The Clerks Office of the District Court of Massachusetts.

  • Wikipedia has an article about Daniel F. Bakeman (1759-1869) and his being the last survivor receiving a veteran’s pension for service in the Revolutionary War. The article includes this same Wikimedia photo.

Calista (Milliken) Morse with her children, Dorothy & Donald – 1897.

Photo of Calista (Milliken) Morse with her children Dorothy & Donald, - 1897.
Calista (Milliken) Morse with her children Dorothy & Donald, – 1897.

The photo identifying information indicates the studio was Philbrick, Biddeford, ME. The back indicates:

Taken April 6, 1897
Aunt Kitty Morse
Dorothy Morse
Donald Morse

Why I believe this to be the individual.

  • A search of Ancestry Dorothy Morse (age ≈ 5), with a brother of Donald Morse (age ≈ 2) living in Maine, found Dorothy Martha Morse (1893-1974), who was born in Saco, Maine. Her brother, Donald Curtis Morse, was born on April 6, 1896. So, this photo was taken on Donald’s 1st birthday. Dorothy, born 16 Nov 1893, would be about 3½. The children’s mother, Calista Eunice (Milliken), was the wife of Frank Edward Morse. Calista was born in Scarborough, Maine, on 3 January 1873, so she would be 24 years old in this photo.

Henry Potter (1799-1876).

Sometimes, the back of a photo gives you everything you might hope to find. Such is this photo of Henry Potter. The back of this photo says:

The back of the Henry Potter photo containing much Genealogical  information.
Back of the Henry Potter (1799-1876) photo.

Henry Potter
May 12, 1799 Concord, Mass.
March 30, 1876 Cambridge, Mass.
Aug 15, 1843
Abigail Livermore Giles
Feb 10, 1810, Beverly, Mass
Jan 25, 1896 Cambridge Mass
——— . ———-
Pres. Cambridge R.R. Co.
  “      “ Gas Light Co.
  “      “ Water Works
  “      “ Mayket[???] Bank
  “      Harvard Mfg. Co.
  “      Potter & Dennuar Co., Boston
——— . ———-
Son of Caff Jacob & Lucy (Brooks) Potter of Concord & Cambridge, Mass.
Father of H Staples Potter who m[arried] Grace Robbins …..

Photo of Henry Potter (1799-1876)
Henry Potter (1799-1876)

What a treasure trove of information. I don’t know who wrote the information on the back, but it is a tremendous help. I reviewed a photo of Henry Staples Potter previously. This photo is of his grandfather.  

The information on the back of this photo coincides with Ancestry Trees showing Henry Potter (1797-1896).


[FNU] Bertha [Will/Webb/?]

Photo of a young woman standing by a padded chair.

The photo identifying information includes the photographer on the front, M.F. King, and a name on the back: Palop Berta Will (?)

I learned that M.F. King was a photographer in Portland, Maine. That suggests that the woman in the photo might be from Portland.

The name on the back is tough to read. I have not been successful in determining this young person’s name. I can’t tell what the surname is, “Will,” “Webb,” or something else altogether. Likewise, I really can’t determine her first name. I’d love to hear from you if you can read this handwriting. If I hold it with the light just right, this is the best I can see:

photo of the name written on the back of the photo.

Conclusion

  • I identified five of the six individuals in these photos. I would love to hear your reaction if any of these photos are of your family member. Especially if this photo is of a loved one for whom you hadn’t seen this photograph before.
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Donna & Griffin’s Theatre – In the News

Donna Darling at Griffin’s Theatre, St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada, January 7th, 8th, & 9th, 1926.

Donna in the News
98 Years Ago
by Don Taylor

“Donna in the News” is my reporting of newly found newspaper articles and advertisements regarding my grandmother, Donna Darling (aka Donna Montran and Madonna Montran). I am always excited when I find a new venue for my grandmother’s exciting show business career of the 1910s and 1920s. 

This week, I learned from the St. Catharines Standard (St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada) newspaper, dated January 6, 1926, that Donna played at Griffin’s Theatre in St. Catharines.

Four Acts at Griffin’s

Jewel Box Revue – Richard Dix and Esther Ralston in “Womanhandled.

Another four-act programme of unequaled vaudeville is announced for presentation at Griffin’s tomorrow, Friday and Saturday, the double headline programme intact jumping from Detroit where it was presented at Miles Orpheum Theatre all last week.

Donna Darling and Girls in her brilliant Jewel Box Revue, is a supreme achievement in music, song and dance, twelve numbers being introduced during the presentation of this elaborate twenty-two minute offering, which introduces the evolution of a bathing suit from 1860, 1900, 1926, besides National dances of France, Holland, Hawaiian and American. The offering is in two scenes.

Weston’s model D’Art….

Because of those newly available online articles, I was able to add TWO new venues for Donna’s exciting vaudeville career.

New information added to her career list:

(Tentative) December 28, 1925- January 2, 1926 – Miles Orpheum Theatre, Detroit, MI – “Jewel Box Revue.”

January 7-9, 2026 – Griffin’s Theatre, St. Catharine, Ontario, Canada – “Jewel Box Review.”


Endnotes

My thanks to Newspapers.com for providing access to this clipping.

98 years ago, my grandmother, “Donna Darling,” was in the news for being at Griffin’s Theatre in St. Catharine, Ontario, Canada.”

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Montrans in the News – Monthan and Moutran Instead.

Montran Monday
By Don Taylor

It is time for another edition of “Montran Monday[i].” When I encounter a new, historical newspaper article about persons with the surname Montran, I try to add information about them to my family tree database in hopes of encountering something that might lead me to learn about my maternal grandmother’s father. This week, I found several new mentions of Montran:

  1. My first false alarm was the marriage of Mr. & Mrs. Gerard Orcutt, published in the Schenectady Gazette. Gerard was in the U.S. Air Force stationed at Davis-Montran [sic] in Arizona. Of course, it should have read Davis-Monthan.
  2. La-Gaceta (Tampa, FL) reported on Feb 19, 1942, that Charles Irving Berney married Anne Poquette Montran[sic]. Again, it should have read Anne Poquette Monthan.
  3. The University of Arizona (Tucson) 1965 yearbook (page 178) indicates that Alan Montran[sic] was among the Army ROTC Seniors. Further research found an Albert Moutran whose son, Alan Moutran, was born in Hawaii in 1943. Albert was a Captain in the USAF and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. I believe this is a likely candidate for the typo of Alan Montran.
  4. Finally, the New London (Conn.) Evening Day reported on Aug 28, 1930, that Alfred Montran filed for divorce from Mary Azzi Montran. They married on Dec 5, 1920. On Jan 9, 1931, the paper reported the Alfred Moutran case was continued pending a motion regarding alimony. Further research found an Albert Moutran, who lived in New London before WW II and died there in 2010. His obituary indicated he was born in 1921, and his parents were Alfred and Mae (Karam) Moutran. I am confident that “Alfred Montran” was actually Alfred Moutran.

No luck this time finding any new Montran’s in my various newspaper sources.


Endnotes

[i] Montran Monday – My grandmother’s father was John Montran. She used the surname, as a young child and when she began her career in show business. The name is uncommon and most of the Montrans I see in the newspapers are my grandmother during her early vaudeville career. However, with the constant flow of newly digitized material, I often learn of new articles which contain the Montran name. I pay attention to the finding and try to determine a possible relationship of any Montrans to Donna’s father, John Montran.

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Marshall – Surname Saturday

My Marshall Ancestors

Roberts-Marshall Line
Surname Saturday
By Don Taylor

Name Origin[i]

Marshall is an occupation name whose origin is from the Frankish mare (“horse”) + skalkoz (“servant”). It is commonly found as a surname but may also be used as a given name. It is also an old Scottish surname meaning ‘Love of Horses.’ It is also an anglicization of the German and Ashkenazic Jewish surname ‘Marschall,’ meaning ‘keeper of horses’ in German.[ii]

John Marshall (1755–1835) was the fourth chief justice of the Supreme Court. He descended from John Marshall, who came from Ireland and settled in Virginia during the 1600s. It will be interesting to find out if I descend from him.

A German form of the surname is Marschall.

Geographical

About 55% of the people with the Marshall surname lived in the United States. The highest density of Marshalls is in Barbados.

Most Marshalls in the US live in Texas, California, and Florida. The greatest frequency of the Marshall surname occurs in Virginia, where one in 801 people have the surname.[iii]

Direct Marshall Ancestors

My Marshalls in History

At the start of the Civil War, Patience was married to Thomas Dean. Thomas died in 1863. I don’t know if it was due to military service. In any event, Patience married Asa Ellis Roberts in 1865 and received a pension because of Asa’s service.

William Marshall was too old (60-70) to have fought during the Civil War. I need to research further to determine if he fought during the War of 1812. (He would have been between 12 and 23 years old then.)

Locations of my Marshall Ancestors

Illinois – Patience Anna (Marshall) Dean Roberts was born, lived her entire life, and died in Illinois.

Tennessee – Patience’s father {FNU] was born in Tennessee.

Famous Marshalls

Wikipedia shows many famous people with the Marshall surname, including two Supreme Court justices, generals, businessmen, and some 18 cities and towns in the United States.

Surname Studies

Family Tree DNA has 637 members in the Marshall Surname Study. The Family Search Wiki has a page about Surname Studies and can direct researchers to several dozen surname studies and groups, including the Marshall Family Tree on Facebook.

Cyndi’s List – Surnames, Family Associations & Family Newsletters, includes three Marshall Genealogy pages.

My Direct Marshall Descendants

I have 221 known descendants of William Marshall in my tree; 47 are Roberts, 12 are Harts, 9 are Childers, and 9 are Derringtons. I have written 14 blog posts about four of them.

Ancestor Photographs

Grandpa Bert Roberts, late 1940s
Great-Grandpa Hugh Ellis Roberts, 1901
Photo of Patience Anna (Marshall} Roberts
2nd Great-grandma Patience Anna (Marshall} Roberts

Sources


Endnotes

[i] Common surname origins include:

  • Occupations (such as “Farmer”
  • Physical characteristics (such as “Short”)
  • Places or landmarks (such as “Hill”)
  • Patronymics, derived from father’s name (such as Johnson from ”son of John”).

[ii] Internet: Genealogy Bank – Surname Meaning – Results of search: Marshall.

[iii] Internet: Forebears – Surname Marshall.

[iv] I have not had the opportunity to personally research these individuals. As such, their names and dates are tentative and/or speculative.

[v] I have not had the opportunity to personally research these individuals. As such, their names and dates are tentative and/or speculative.

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